A COUP BRINGS THE BLACK NIGHT OF DESPAIR BACK TO TORTURED CAMBODIA

The history of Cambodia over the past 30 years has been a succession of tragedies: war, a horrific "peace"--as many as a million people perished during the "killing fields" rule of Pol Pot's communist Khmer Rouge--followed by a 10-year occupation by neighboring Vietnam. But there was one moment of true hope: in May 1993, 90% of the electorate went to polling booths to elect a government. It seemed that Cambodia was beginning to wake from its nightmare.

That hope died last week, possibly for a very long time. Tanks and uniformed teens with guns were once more out on the streets...